‘Forrest Gump’ Celebrates Turning 20 With an IMAX Engagement

'Forrest Gump,' which turns 20 this year, is about to be rolled back into theaters to celebrate. Paramount has announced that the film will screen in IMAX auditoriums starting September 5, and have also moved up 'SpongeBob SquarePants 2' from February 13 to February 6, 2015.

What's interesting about the latter is that 'Jupiter Ascending' recently moved to that weekend, so it's become a crowded period considering they will open against the Johnny Depp film 'Mordecai' and 'Seventh Son,' which was originally slated to open February 22, 2103. It's likely that 'SpongeBob' saw how well 'The LEGO Movie' did opening that weekend this year and wanted to copy its success, and it's also likely one of these pictures will shift their release date.

As for 'Forrest Gump' (besides those gnashing their teeth realizing it's been 20 years since that film was in theaters), it makes sense to re-release it in September as it's considered a dead period at the box office, while Paramount had great luck reissuing 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' in the same slot back in 2012. And though 'Gump' may not have aged particularly well (it seemed the last big gasp of baby boomer nostalgia), it is a film that has ingrained itself in pop culture, regardless if you still hold a grudge that it trumped 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'Pulp Fiction' for the Best Picture Oscar. Phrases like 'life is like a box of chocolates' rarely need to be contextualized, which suggests the film (which is ranked 31 on the list of all time domestic unadjusted grosses) should do well when it's re-released this fall.